Why Birds?

Birds are the most visible and measurable indicators of environmental health in our natural areas and of far away places from which birds travel. Pennsylvania is located within the Atlantic flyway – one of the main “highways” for many millions of migrant birds and is key to a number of species; PA is breeding grounds for 16% of the world’s Scarlet Tanagers, 10% of the world’s Worm-eating Warblers, and 9% of the world’s Wood Thrushes.

Pennsylvania is also home to a rich variety of resident birds that live most or all of their lives around our homes, towns, and natural areas. Habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation are the leading causes of population declines in birds and also impact other wildlife and plant communities. Roughly 2.1 million acres of wildlife habitat nationwide are converted to residential use every year. So we now look to our own properties as resting, nesting and refueling stations for the most common bird species and those stopping on their long migratory travels. In the process we increase our ability to live with nature rather than against it.